A new fintech business which I was introduced to earlier this year. Is Currensea A Prepaid Credit Card…
It has won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (using you an affordable method to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good idea.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. You simply invest as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is taken from your present account– just without the normal 3% cost.
Oh, and is complimentary to obtain, which likewise helps.
There are also some fascinating travel advantages if you choose a paid strategy, but the free strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is an organization model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and for free or less expensive than the competition
add increasingly more functions which your existing clients don’t truly require or want
include charges, charges or limitations to the feature that made individuals get your product in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will ideally stay there. Curve, monzo and revolut are currently in Stage 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Is Currensea A Prepaid Credit Card
It is a free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you don’t require a card, unless you desire complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which use benefits and charge 0% FX fees are couple of and far in between. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives which provide a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you do not have a credit card offering 0% FX charges and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to utilize abroad
you desire an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no costs and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small fee beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who requires an easy, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said previously, a really simple process. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, internationally).
Your current account bank automatically confirms that you have sufficient money in your account and authorises the deal.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. If you have the totally free card, adds a 0.5% charge. There are no charges if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated spend notification via the app, if you pick to install it.
The cash is drawn from your bank account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, I chose to splash out and buy 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 arranged to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later on:.
However transforming pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight break-in that is just about to take place (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion costs occurring in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In recent years a handful of great travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards Currensea assures big savings (85%) and a great app.
However I think the best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street checking account.
What this means is you can spend cash you have in your existing current account with less stress over running out of cash and the additional action. But that does not imply it is ideal.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, the bad, the awful and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Necessary Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make income from our Important Strategy whilst staying much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the free amount on all our strategies, complete details can be found on our pricing plans.
Membership fees.
We charge a yearly subscription fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership fee likewise eliminates all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time you invest with your card we get a little % of the deal, called interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Is Currensea A Prepaid Credit Card